And here's part 2! Go easy on me, as large parts of this were rewritten just tonight.
Emily lay on her stomach on her bed, doing her homework. Or trying to, at least. She was definitely getting much better at this focus thing, but she still found paper the hardest. She allowed her eyes to lose focus just a bit, until the paper was whole but the words slightly blurry. Then she tried to bring them into focus as slowly as she could. To Emily's triumph, it worked. Briefly. She scanned the page as quickly as she could, grateful for her photographic memory inherited from her father. When she realized she was looking through the paper again, she stopped, closed her eyes, and pictured the paper in her mind. Blindly, she tried to fill in the responses.
After a few minutes of this, she threw down her pencil in frustration and carried her homework downstairs to the kitchen. Grandma was sitting at the table, reading a book.
"Grandma?" Emily asked. "Can you help me with this? I can't read it, and I'm having trouble focusing on it enough to write the answers in the right places.
"Oh, sure, honey," Grandma said, getting up and taking the paper from Emily.
Within a few minutes, Emily was feeling much better. Grandma would read her the question, then put a red piece of construction paper over the paper, with just a slot cut in the construction paper that lined up with the answer space. Emily knew the answers to the questions, and it was easier to write in the space that glared white amidst the construction paper. Blurry vision didn't cause a problem there.
Grandma read over each answer once it was written, fixing any part where Emily's handwriting had gone askew because she couldn't see what she was doing. Emily's confidence was returning. She knew this stuff! She just... couldn't read. It gave her a whole new sympathy for people who had dyslexia or other learning disabilities. But people who had learning disabilities were given special options in class, more time to finish their tests and that sort of thing.
More time to finish tests... and some were even given their tests orally.
"That's it, Grandma!" Emily said excitedly. "Oral tests!"
Grandma looked startled. "What?"
"Maybe I can ask Mrs. Bailes to give me a chance to retake the test... orally! I know the answers, I just can't read the test paper. But if I tell her that I've been having trouble in class because I have vision problems, and that I have to wait for my parents to take me to an eye specialist before I can get glasses... maybe she'll let me take my tests orally in the meantime."
"That's a good idea, Emily!" Grandma said, sounding relieved. "You'll probably need to be getting glasses soon, anyway, if you think you might want to consider taking on a superhero persona as an adult. It's easier if there aren't any pictures of you without glasses when you're a teenager. Besides, once the heat-vision kicks in, the glasses will definitely help you with control."
Emily imagined accidentally setting Mrs. Bailes's classroom on fire, instead of just x-raying through it. She winced and nodded.
******
Emily wasn't exactly *looking* for a fight when she walked into school the next day--but somehow she wasn't exactly surprised when she found one.
The voice was so high-pitched that she heard it the moment she pushed open the school doors.
"I couldn't stop staring at him during math class yesterday. His hair is so long and silky, I hope he never cuts it. He actually turned around once, to look at the clock, and I think he smiled at me..."
Emily walked around the locker bank and, no surprise, found Nathan practicing his falsetto as he read aloud from what looked like a girl's diary. Probably the small blonde girl sobbing, her friend standing next to her with her arm around her and glaring at Nathan.
"Wow, Nathan, I'm impressed," Emily said loudly.
He stopped reading and looked up.
"You've progressed from reading 'Green Eggs and Ham' to reading younger kids' diaries. Next, you might actually be able to read the newspaper! I hear they're written on a middle-school level."
He winked at her. "I guess that's so that your parents can read their own stories, huh? I hear they're on some big one now, so big that they have to send their little babies to the country just to make sure they're safe."
Emily winced, but she knew it was her own fault. She shouldn't have given in to her urge to insult Nathan personally, no matter how much she wanted to. She'd never come out of that kind of battle without scars.
"Give the girl her diary back, Nathan."
"Why should I?"
"Why shouldn't you? Why should you keep it and read it to the whole school? They'll get a quick laugh out of listening to some embarrassed girl's purple prose about the guy who sits in front of her, but at the same time they're really thinking that you're a cruel, malicious person who'll probably grow up to be a serial killer. Haven't you noticed that nobody wants to be friends with you? They all know that you don't know how to be a friend, or even a decent human being."
"Like you do? Walking around so high and mighty, Emily, Defender of the Innocent, too good to be friends with anybody from a hick town."
That hit close to home. Emily took a sharp breath. "I don't go around hurting other people for my own amusement."
The bell rang, and everyone in the hallway suddenly scattered, heading for their disparate classrooms. Emily grabbed the diary from Nathan's hand while he was distracted and handed it to the blonde girl.
"Yeah, thanks a lot," the girl spat.
"What?" Emily was startled.
"Purple prose? I may be a 'little kid' but I know what that means. You made me look stupid in front of the entire school! Stay out of it next time!" She stalked off towards the second-floor stairwell.
"Kids these days," Nathan said, shaking his head sorrowfully. "Such a waste. We were never that obnoxious, were we?"
Emily rolled her eyes at him and head towards her first-period math class, but found herself hard-pressed to be angry, even when her math teacher assigned her extra homework for arriving late.
******
Her vision really was improving, Emily found. The super-vision was almost completely under control. She could zoom in or out at will, and had no difficulty looking out the window, over the ballfield, across the street, and into the windows of the Smallville Bakery. Her stomach rumbled.
The x-ray vision wasn't quite so perfect. If she concentrated, she could look at exactly the layer she intended. But if she let her mind wander, or if she concentrated too hard on a math problem or her science experiment, she'd suddenly find herself x-raying through everything without any discernible pattern. And it was rather hard to hold concentration on her vision when she was also trying to do her work well.
Fortunately, they were doing lab work in science right now. Susan, Emily's lab partner, was perfectly willing to write the lab report if Emily told her what to write. Susan was flattered to believe that she was doing all the writing because she had neater handwriting.
She hadn't had any math tests since starting school here, as her math teacher believed in giving only a few larger tests a year to cover entire units. But she had a feeling that, unless her vision got remarkably better by then, she'd be talking to him about oral tests for math as well. For now, though, only history, with Mrs. Bailes's weekly tests, was the problem. And maybe by the time she went home today, that problem would be solved.
Emily jerked as she felt something hit the back of her head. She felt the back of her hair gingerly, but there was nothing there that shouldn't be. A bug, maybe.
But before she'd even taken her hand away, something stung her hand. She half-turned in her chair and looked down to see two rubber bands lying on the floor. And at the back of the room, where he'd been sent for talking back to the teacher, was Nathan, grinning at her.
Emily picked up the rubber bands and waited until Mrs. Bailes turned her back. Then she fitted one to her hand, turned around, and fired.
Unfortunately, it missed.
"Drat," she murmured, fumbling with the other one while pretending to read what Mrs. Bailes had written on the chalkboard. When the teacher turned to face the board again, Emily let it fly.
Nathan clamped his hand to his forehead. Emily grinned, but her triumph was short-lived.
"Emily Kent!" Mrs. Bailes called. "Did you just shoot a rubber band at Nathan?"
Emily closed her eyes for a moment, then turned to the front. "Yes, ma'am," she said. Her face grew hot as she felt everybody staring at her.
"Why don't you come stand up front, then," Mrs. Bailes suggested. But Emily knew it wasn't an option.
Cheeks still burning, she got up from her desk and walked slowly to the front of the room and stood next to the chalkboard, facing the class. Mrs. Bailes nodded to her and then continued the lesson.
Emily's teacher back home just gave detentions to people who were "acting out" in class. She never made somebody stand at the front of the classroom. It was almost as bad as having to give a speech, having everybody stare at you.
Nathan, of course, never had to stand at the front of the classroom when he got in trouble. When Mrs. Bailes had tried, he'd made funny faces behind her back and mimicked her until the whole class was laughing at him instead of watching the teacher. After that, he always just got sent to the back of the room where at least he was distracting as few people as possible.
Today had been the very worst possible day to get in trouble with Mrs. Bailes. Emily had been planning to ask her about retaking the test orally. If she waited too long, Mrs. Bailes might not agree. But if she asked today... would Mrs. Bailes just think she was being a troublemaker?
The painful snap of a rubber band bouncing off her cheek again brought tears to her eyes, and she almost panicked. She was not going to cry in front of the entire class! That would be the ultimate humiliation. She closed her eyes and pretended to scratch her forehead until she had herself under control.
Emily stared at her shoes. Would this class never end?
After what seemed like ten hours, the class did finally end. Emily bent down to retie the shoe she'd noticed was loose, mostly to avoid looking at any of her classmates as they filed out of the classroom. It was time to talk to Mrs. Bailes. She'd already arranged with Jack to pick her up later from school so that she could have time to talk to the teacher. It would be awful to tell Jack why she'd chickened out.
Mrs. Bailes was standing at her desk, flipping throught the homework papers that had been turned in.
"Uh... Mrs. Bailes?"
The teacher looked up and gave Emily a smile. Obviously she wasn't too upset over the rubber band incident.
"I was wondering... if I could talk to you for a minute?"
"I'm all ears," the teacher said. "What can I help you with?"
"Well, you know how I... didn't exactly do very well on the past test? It's not because I don't like history, or because I haven't been paying attention in class. Seriously!"
Mrs. Bailes nodded. "Your grades from Metropolis Union were very good. Are you upset at being at a new school?"
"No. Well, I mean, maybe a little. But mostly the problem is, well, I'm having trouble seeing."
The teacher blinked. "Seeing?"
"Yes. My vision has been kind of strange lately. I've been having trouble seeing the chalkboard, and especially with seeing what's written on my paper. I'm still doing all the work at home, but my grandmother helps read the papers to me. And I really do know all the answers! I just... can't read them."
Emily hoped her explanation didn't sound as lame to Mrs. Bailes as it did to her. But her teacher was nodding.
"I had wondered if...well, that's neither here nor there. Are you going to get glasses?"
Emily nodded. "Yeah. My brother had the same problems a few years ago, and his glasses help him a lot. But my parents want to take me to a specialist in the city when they get back, so it probably won't be for a few weeks. I thought maybe in the meantime--maybe I could take oral tests?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Mrs. Bailes said. "How about I'll make you a deal? If you promise not to shoot any more rubber bands in class, no matter how much that Nathan might deserve it, then I'll let you retake the last test orally. If your grade improves--and it can hardly get worse--then we'll do that for the rest of your tests while you're here in Smallville, or at least until you get glasses. Sound fair?"
"Very," Emily said, reddening. "I promise. It was just that..."
"I know, he was shooting them at you," she said. "But Nathan's just... trouble. You have to ignore people like that."
Emily nodded. "I'm sorry."
"I know you are. Now go ahead home and make sure you're ready for your retest tomorrow."
******
Emily went to her gym locker to get her basketball. Jack had agreed to give Emily a ride home after her meeting with her teacher at least partly because he needed to stay after school anyway to do some work for his yearbook club. Even after only a few weeks of school, he was already its chief photographer. He'd had plenty of experience trailing around Daily Planet photographers as a child in Metropolis, and a few things were bound to penetrate even his thick skull--at least in Emily's opinion. It gave her the perfect chance to practice her layups in the gym. There was no basketball hoop at the Kents' farm, nor was there a neighborhood court nearby. And whether she was going to be in Smallville or Metropolis once the basketball season started in a few weeks, Emily would need to get some practice first.
The gym was empty. Emily dribbled the ball over towards the farther basket, then made her first shot. A miss. It had definitely been too long since she had last practiced.
Her last practice, in fact, had been with her father. Unlike the fathers of some of her friends, he always took time to play with Jack and her. There was a basketball court just around the block from their townhouse, and he'd played 1-on-2 with them. He'd only had to run off once to be Superman, and he'd been back so fast they'd hardly even noticed. They always had to be ready for him to run off, but the times when he was around made it worth his disappearances. And, of course, he had never run off to be Superman and left the two of them in danger when they were small. He tried to make sure their mother or another adult was with them when he took them out, in case he had to be Superman. And if no other adult was there... well, they could see that it pained him, but he knew his duty to his children.
They'd loved him for that, even when they were just barely old enough to understand.
But this particular game, he'd been there, really there. They'd played so hard that they were dripping sweat. Emily had been playing full-out, but she knew that Jack and her father's struggles were at least partly over not using super-powers. Now that she was discovering how difficult it could be to control her vision and hearing, she had an idea of how hard it must be to hold back one's super-strength and speed.
She wondered, as she made a successful shot and jogged over to catch the rebound, whether she'd have to quit basketball for a while when her super-strength came in. She might have the same troubles controlling her super-strength as she did her current powers, and if that was the case, it really wouldn't be safe to be playing on a team until she got control. And once she did... would her parents even let her play sports, given her advantages?
Jack didn't play sports, but, then, that wasn't his interest. He loved photography, and trailed around the Daily Planet's star photographer Jimmy Olsen constantly. He liked playing pickup games on occasion, and he went on long bike-rides almost every day, but he didn't really have any interest in team sports.
Emily had been playing team sports since she was small, and she loved them. Basketball and softball were her favorites. During the spring and summer, she was always certain that she loved softball the most. But during the fall and winter, she was sure it was basketball. If she had to give them up...
She'd just have to convince her parents that she shouldn't have to give them up. She could do without them for a season, maybe, while she got her powers in order. But powers weren't cheating. They weren't like steroids, dangerous drugs that artificially increased muscle and endurance. They were her and Jack's natural state. Somebody who was talented at gymnastics wouldn't be told that they couldn't do gymnastics because it wasn't fair that they were better than everybody else, would they?
Of course, being super-powered was a bit beyond simply being the best in a sport. Nonetheless... Emily was perfectly willing to hold back, to be just a good member of the team and nothing more. Surely her parents would agree to that.
She watched the ball swish through the hoop with a satisfied smile, darted forward to catch the rebound, and turned around to see Nathan watching her.
Emily felt a frisson of fear. She was alone in the gym, alone with Nathan. And, despite the fact that she'd stood up to him before, she'd done it in front of other kids and with the chance of a teacher walking in--salvation, should she find herself completely out of her depth.
She took a step backwards.
Nathan looked disgusted. "What, do you think I'm going to jump you or something?" he asked.
Since that was exactly what she'd thought, she didn't respond.
"I just though... well, maybe we could play. A little one-on-one. What do you say?"
No. Definitely no.
"Are you any good?" she found herself asking.
He shrugged. "I'm thinking about trying out for the school team this year. I've never been on it before, though."
He was almost a head taller than her, and height could be an advantage in basketball. However, height was certainly not the only advantage a person could have. Speed could make up for height. So could a good jump.
"All right. But I have to quit at 4," she told him. "My brother's picking me up."
"Sure. Toss for possession?"
"Nah, you can have it, as the guest," she said, tossing him the ball. She immediately went into defensive mode.
He was good. She could tell that much right from the start. His eyes didn't give him away, he kept them locked with hers until he moved. And his control of the ball was excellent.
She stayed close, blocking his every shot as he moved around the court. She made several attempts to steal the ball, but every one failed. She'd probably fouled him at least once, in fact, but in a one-on-one game without a referee fouls tended to go unnoticed.
He finally managed to make a shot, but the ball hit the side of the backboard and fell away. Emily grabbed the rebound, but he was there, hands in her face before she could take a shot.
He was, in fact, probably the best challenge she'd had since taking on Jack back in Metropolis. And she could never tell how much of Jack's ability was because of his super-powers. That, and Jack was well over a foot taller and four years older.
A sound from the other side of the gym made Emily look up briefly, and she was surprised to see several other students standing there, watching her game with Nathan. She colored, then tried to ignore them and make the shot. She missed, and Nathan got the ball. He made another shot immediately, and this one went in.
Emily groaned and grabbed the rebound, darting back out near the three-point line before Nathan could catch up to her. She dribbled, breaking left or right occasionally, until she finally managed to catch him off guard. She darted in towards the basket, made a shot, and scored. They were tied.
They both paused for a moment, breathing heavily. A shot from the sidelines caught their attention at the same time. The few students watching had grown into a crowd of about fifteen, several their classmates but others from different grades.
"Go, Emily!" someone shouted.
"Kick Nathan's butt!" a girl called.
Nathan's face darkened, and he started toward her.
Emily grabbed his arm. "Nathan, don't. We're still playing, aren't we?"
He looked uncertain for a moment, glancing at the crowd on the sidelines and then back at her. "Okay," he said finally. "Let's go."
She could tell, however, that his mind was on the crowd. It continued to grow in size, and when anyone did shout out encouragement, it was always to her. She doubted any of them actually knew who she was... but apparently Nathan was so universally disliked, anybody was willing to cheer against him. It was almost enough to make her feel sorry for him. Almost, if he hadn't brought it on himself by his incessant bullying and rude behavior.
Emily grabbed another rebound and spun around just as Nathan tried to grab it. He ended up crashing into her hard enough to knock her to the floor.
Emily fell, stunned, and Nathan grabbed the ball from her hands before she could react.
"Foul move!" somebody shouted angrily, and Nathan looked up, startled.
Several of the impromptu fans were booing or catcalling. Nathan tossed the basketball back in Emily's direction and headed for the door of the gym.
Emily scrambled to her feet. "Nathan, wait!" she called. But he didn't stop.
She jogged after him and finally caught up with him just outside the boys' locker room.
"Nathan," she gasped, out of breath.
"What?" he shouted, looking as if he was about to hit her.
She paused for a moment, then held out her hand. "Good game," she said.
He stared at the hand for so long, Emily thought he was going to ignore it. Or spit on it. But finally he took it and gave a quick shake. "Good game, Emily." He turned and walked into the locker room.
Emily walked slowly back to the girls' locker room, spinning the ball as she went. She locked it safely back in its locker and then got into the shower.
Her mother had always told her to watch out for bullies. To stand up for the little guy. Her mother did that herself, in fact, going after the story to make the victims' stories known and make the bad guys pay. Like she was doing now.
But maybe... maybe it was possible for a bully to not *want* to be a bully. Maybe? Her mother would probably just say that it was a trick, a play for sympathy, something of the sort. Maybe Nathan had been a jerk all along, and the other kids at school just reacted to the attitude he showed everybody. Maybe.
If he did want to change, though, would anybody give him the chance? Maybe a chance was all he needed, after all.
There was a knock on the door, and then the locker room door opened slowly. "Em? You ready?" Jack's voice called in.
"Almost!" Emily called back. "Get out and give me a second to get dressed!"
"It's not like I haven't seen it before," Jack complained as he went back out and closed the door.
Emily rolled her eyes. Just because Jack had changed her diapers once or twice when she was a baby, he thought her need for privacy was ridiculous. But just in case, she got dressed as quickly as she could and hurried out of the locker room with her jacket.
Their ride home was uneventful. Jack seemed lost in thought, and Emily had a feeling she knew why. He was crazy about this girl in the yearbook club, Chloe. He'd joined the club, even knowing that they probably wouldn't be in Smallville for very long, just to get to know her. Emily hadn't met her yet, but she'd overheard Jack talking to her on the phone. His voice got all soft and low. Emily had been shocked the first time she'd heard him speak the way, realizing he actually sounded... romantic? Her brother!
"How's Chloe?" she asked mischievously as they pulled up in front of the farmhouse.
"What?" he glanced at her and turned bright red. "Oh, you mean that girl in yearbook club? She's fine, I guess. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason," Emily said with a grin, grabbing her backpack from the seat and racing into the house.
Grandma was on the phone, Grandpa behind her. He looked worried, but Martha waved to them. "They just walked in. They're fine. Did you want to talk to them?"
"Mom?" Jack mouthed to Grandpa. He nodded.
"All right. Well, we'll be waiting for your call, then," Grandma said, hanging up.
"What's up?" Jack asked.
"Your mother called," Grandma said. "She's really worried. Something's gone wrong with their investigation, and she sounded really upset about you guys."
"There's been a threat against you," Grandpa said.
"We've known that for ages," Jack complained. "That's why we're here."
"Yes, but this time it included pictures," Grandma said. "Of you two, here, walking into school."
Emily gave Jack a nervous glance. "Somebody took pictures of us here?"
"It's not exactly the world's greatest hiding place," Jack said. "I always thought they should have hidden us in Australia or something. Or at least some place where we aren't known to have relatives."
"Well, they didn't originally think that the threat would be serious," Grandpa said. "They thought they'd have the story in a matter of days."
"Which turned into weeks, which meant we had to be enrolled in school here," Emily said, making a face. She grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl and started to peel it. "So what does this mean? Are we going back to Metropolis?"
"Definitely not," Grandpa said. "You're safer here with us. They just want you to take some extra precautions. Emily, you won't be taking the bus anymore. I'll drive you into school, or Jack will take you. Jack, I want you to offer a friend of yours a ride. Don't drive alone. Both of you, if you have to wait outside the school building before or after school, or leave it for any reason, you stay with a friend. Okay?"
Emily and Jack nodded.
"Also, I think it's better if you both stay inside the house when you're not at school. Martha and I will take care of your outdoor chores."
Jack looked mutinous about this... probably thinking about his bike, Emily thought. But he didn't say anything. No matter the inconvenience, this seemed... dangerous. Emily had a feeling she'd be jumping at every nighttime sound until those drug dealers were caught.
"And please try to keep your eyes open," Grandma said. "Emily, don't walk everywhere with your nose in a book. Look around you. Try to see if there's anybody you see regularly who shouldn't be there."
Emily's mouth was dry. She didn't want to be a baby--she was twelve years old, for goodness sake, and she'd be a superhero some day--but she felt like shaking with fear. She wasn't invulnerable yet. Her parents' enemies might not be able to hurt Jack, at least not unless they discovered his vulnerability to fire... but she was still no more protected than the average twelve-year-old girl.
And even her superhero father couldn't be everywhere at once. If he had had Lois call them instead of coming over himself, that meant that he was spending every waking second trying to track down the criminals and stop them.
Grandma caught Emily's eye. "Don't worry, honey. You'll be fine. Did you talk to your teacher about doing the oral test?"
"Oh! Yes! She said okay, and I'm taking the retest tomorrow during lunch."
"That's wonderful," Grandma said, giving her a hug. "How about we go upstairs and I'll help you study?"
Emily knew that Grandma was trying to distract her, as well as give Jack and Grandpa time to talk in private, but she didn't care. She allowed herself to be distracted and brought a bowl of carrot sticks upstairs to munch while she studied.
tbc...
